The present invention relates to a vacuum system that can be used to withdraw fluids from a patient, and, more particularly, to a vacuum system that has a shut off mechanism that is operable by the user to occlude the vacuum line to the patient in order to more accurately and positively establish the level of vacuum to be applied to the patient.
There are in use today, considerable uses of a vacuum systems that carry out the withdrawal of fluids from a patient cavity as well as other medical uses in a hospital for such vacuum withdrawal systems. In general, after many surgical operations, there is a need to remove certain fluids from a patient and, to that end, most hospitals normally have a pipeline supply or a source of vacuum to the patient rooms so that there is a source of vacuum present on site for use with a patient. Thus, it is relatively convenient for the hospital to simply attach a vacuum regulator to that source of vacuum in the patient room and have a regulated source of vacuum that can be established by the caregiver at the particular level of vacuum that is desired to be applied to the patient. Additionally, of course, from time to time, it is necessary for that caregiver to change the level of the vacuum applied to the patient by resetting the regulator.
As other components of typical vacuum systems, there is provided a collection container that receives and collects the quantity of fluid from the patient and that container is connected to a cannula or catheter that is, in turn, actually introduced into the particular patient cavity from which the fluids are desired to be withdrawn.
One of the present problems in such vacuum systems, however, is in determining an accurate level of vacuum by adjusting the vacuum regulator. At the present, the caregiver can directly control the vacuum regulator by the rotation of an actuator or control knob on the vacuum regulator while at the same time, visually observe a vacuum gauge to adjust and reset the level of vacuum to the desired level. In present vacuum systems, however, as long as there is a flow in the vacuum system, the setting of the vacuum regulator by a visual observation of the vacuum gauge can cause an inaccuracy, as it is important for the vacuum system to be at xe2x80x9cno flowxe2x80x9d conditions in order to obtain accurate readings of the maximum level of vacuum that can be applied to the patient on the vacuum gauge.
Thus, as the current systems are used, it is incumbent on the caregiver to somehow occlude the vacuum line upstream of the vacuum regulator, that is, in the vacuum line that extends from the vacuum regulator to the patient while simultaneously observing the vacuum gauge and adjusting the vacuum regulator to achieve the particular desired vacuum level.
In order to presently occlude the vacuum line to the patient, the caregiver normally will pinch the flexible vacuum line leading to the patient while, of course, at the same time, trying to read the level of the vacuum by means of the vacuum gauge and while simultaneously rotating the vacuum regulator actuator knob to set that vacuum level at the desired value.
As such, there are likely to be instances where the caregiver simply does not physically pinch the vacuum line sufficiently hard to fully occlude that line or, alternatively, the caregiver may totally omit the step of carrying out the occlusion of that vacuum line. In either event, as long as there is some flow in the vacuum line, that is, there is a flow through the regulator, the caregiver will be setting the regulator to a desired vacuum level that will actually be a lower than the potential vacuum that can reach the patient. Therefore, if the caregiver sets a desired vacuum level where there is some flow and, if the vacuum line is later fully occluded, the patient will actually experience a vacuum level that is higher than the value set by the caregiver and thus there is a potential danger of the patient seeing too high a value of vacuum level at the body cavity being drained.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide some means of making it easier for the caregiver to set or reset a level of vacuum on a vacuum regulator with an enhanced, predictable accuracy by some system that would ensure that the vacuum line leading to the patient upstream of the vacuum regulator is positively occluded and therefore that there is truly a xe2x80x9cno flowxe2x80x9d condition in the vacuum system so that the observed reading on the vacuum gauge is accurate. It would be even more advantageous for that means of occluding the patient line to be at a convenient location with respect to the vacuum regulator and vacuum gauge so that the caregiver can carry out all of the necessary operations at the same time, at the same location and not be distracted by trying to carry out multiple functions at diverse locations.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a method and system to carry out the establishing and/or resetting of a vacuum level to a patient in a line withdrawing fluids from that patient by providing a positive means of occluding the patient line upstream of the vacuum regulator. As used herein, the convention will be employed that follows the flow in the vacuum line, that is, the source of vacuum will be a downstream location and the patient cavity at an upstream location and the terms upstream and downstream will be used with reference to the flow of fluid in the direction from the patient toward the source of vacuum.
Thus, in accordance with the present invention, a flow switch is provided that causes a positive occluding of the vacuum line upstream of the vacuum regulator so that the caregiver can simply activate the switch and be assured that the vacuum line has been fully occluded and the caregiver can thereafter turn full attention to the setting of the vacuum regulator and the visual monitoring of the vacuum gauge.
In a preferred embodiment, the flow switch that can be activated by the caregiver to occlude the vacuum line is in close proximity to the vacuum regulator itself and can even be incorporated as a component of the vacuum regulator so as to be affixed to or incorporated into the same enclosure as the vacuum regulator.
In a more preferred embodiment a combination product is provided, a vacuum regulator/switch that basically combines, in one device, the function of the normal vacuum regulator with the function of a flow switch. In such combination device, the normal or conventional vacuum regulator is adjusted by the rotation of an actuator having a knob and the occluding switch is constructed to be integral with the rotatable actuator so that the caregiver can simply push the actuator knob inwardly along the z axis to fully occlude the patient vacuum line and thereafter, while displaced inwardly, rotate the actuator knob to adjust the level of the vacuum by means of the normal function of the vacuum regulator while observing the vacuum gauge that is provided in the same enclosure. Thus, this embodiment is most convenient and the caregiver can, with one hand, both occlude the vacuum line to the patient and adjust the level of vacuum simultaneously and with the facility of being able to readily observe the vacuum gauge to assure that the vacuum level established to the patient is accurate.
As will be seen, one of the features of a preferred embodiment is that the caregiver cannot change the level of the vacuum used in withdrawing the fluids from a patient without occluding the vacuum line, that is, the flow switch is interconnected with the vacuum regulator such that the system is safe and the caregiver must engage the flow switch to occlude the vacuum line before the level of vacuum can be changed by any manipulation of the vacuum regulator such that no flow conditions must be present for that caregiver to reset the level of vacuum to a desired level.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention.